March 24, 2021
Mr. TANIKAWA Naoya, a 1st-year student, who is participating in the Innovation and Start-up Education Program and his teammates (6 students of the UoA and 1 student of another university) participated in the "Entrepreneur Koshien organized by MIC and NICT" and they won second place.
Mr. TANIKAWA was interested in starting up a business when he was a high school student and thought about many business ideas. After enrolling at the UoA, he participated in the Innovation and Start-up Education Program. Then, under the guidance of Prof. YOSHIMOTO Sho at UBIC (University-Business Innovation Center), he brushed up his idea on "ELECLO (Electronic Clothes)" and turned it into a real business model.
His team participated in the "SPARK! TOHOKU 2020 Startup Pitch" held on December 20, 2020, which was a regional tournament of the Entrepreneur Koshien, and they received the NICT award and won a ticket to the national competition!
▲At the SPARK! TOHOKU 2020 Startup Pitch
During preparation for the national competition, Mr. TANIKAWA got cooperation from Mr. KAKIZAKI Manato (1-year student), Mr. SUKEGAWA Takuya (3rd-year student), Ms. HASHIMOTO Shihomi (3rd-year student), Mr. YOSHIDA Kenta (1-year student), Mr. TOMIYAMA Yuta (3-year student), and Mr. ICHIMARU Yuya (1-year student of Sophia University) to try to develop prototypes.
Click HERE to watch a presentation (in Japanese)
For the future, so as to commercialize the product, they will work on looking for partner companies to develop materials, requesting cooperation from professionals to get some technical advice, and obtaining development funds.
Besides, Mr. YASUI Banri, a 2nd-year student, also participated in the "SPARK! TOHOKU 2020 Startup Pitch" and received the Sendai Mayor's award and EO award.
▲At the SPARK! TOHOKU 2020 Startup Pitch
Please keep your eyes on their future activities!
*More Information about the Innovation and Start-up Education Program
